MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th June, 2020) Millions of people are expected to take to the streets of cities all across the globe this coming weekend in the latest set of protests against racial inequality and police violence, which were ignited by the death of George Floyd, an African American man, in the custody of US law enforcement officers in Minneapolis on May 25.
A video showing a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeling on Floyd's neck after the latter had been arrested was widely circulated online on May 26. The images of the incident that led to Floyd's death triggered a wave of violent and non-violent protests that began in Minneapolis and has since spread across the globe.
In cities such as Washington, Los Angeles, and New York, protesters and law enforcement officers have been fighting running battles for over a week, with countless incidents of police using tear gas and rubber bullets on demonstrators being reported by media outlets.
Over the past week, the protests have also spread across the world, to cities such as London, Paris, Berlin, and Rio de Janeiro, with some of the demonstrations also leading to violence.
Governments and law enforcement officers across the globe are on high alert ahead of the weekend's anticipated protests. In France, Australia, and the United Kingdom, the authorities have already told protesters that any demonstrations will violate the limits on public gatherings enforced to curb the spread of COVID-19.
In August 1963, more than 200,000 people marched on Washington to demand equal rights for African American citizens. Less than a year later, US lawmakers passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed discrimination based on race, origin, religion, and sex.
More than half a century later, the world's attention will once again be on the US capital, where one of the largest marches against racial inequality in a generation is expected to take place.
Several nights of protests have already taken place in Washington, DC, since the death of Floyd. Most notably, St. John's Episcopal Church in the US capital suffered serious damage during the unrest.
US President Donald Trump traveled to the church in the aftermath of the incident and posed for photographs while holding a copy of the Bible, although the leader's decision to visit the church received serious backlash.
According to the NBC news broadcaster on Friday, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) organization has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, claiming that peaceful protesters were violently dispersed from Lafayette Square so that the leader could visit the church.
On Saturday, one of the largest marches in the history of Washington, DC is expected to take place. Ahead of the event, hashtags such as #1MillionDCSaturday and #MillionStrongaMillionWrongs began trending on Twitter, indicating the potential size of the march.
"We have a lot of public, open-source information to suggest that the event on this upcoming Saturday may be one of the largest that we've had in the city," District of Columbia police chief Peter Newsham said at a press briefing on Thursday.
Over the past week, the authorities in Washington have already taken steps to increase security around the White House. Videos and images have circulated online showing additional fencing and barricades being placed around the perimeter of the residence, and the Secret Service has closed several roads adjacent to the White House until further notice.
The National Guard has already been deployed to the nation's capital to assist law enforcement officers during the protests, although Mayor Muriel Bowser has called for out-of-state troops to leave the city.
"The very first thing is we want the military, we want troops from out-of-state out of Washington, DC," Bowser said on Thursday.
The mayor has also reportedly approved the painting of "Black Lives Matter" in giant letters on a two-block section of street near the White House. However, this move was criticized by the local branch of the civil rights movement.
"This is performative and a distraction from her active counter organizing to our demands to decrease the police budget and invest in the community. Black Lives Matter means Defund the police," the DC branch of BLM wrote on Twitter.
After ten days of violence, which has seen hundreds of arrests take place in the nation's capital, law enforcement officers have called on protesters to exercise their First Amendment right to demonstrate peacefully.
PROTESTS PLANNED ACROSS ENTIRE US
The upcoming demonstrations will not just be limited to the nation's capital, as protests and marches are planned to take place in the majority of US cities over the coming weekend.
In California, marches and rallies against racial inequality are scheduled to take place in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Berkeley.
On Thursday, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that he would not reimpose a curfew in the city, several days after widespread violence and looting broke out.
The mayor also announced that the city would invest a further $250 million in community projects, with a portion of these funds coming from cuts to the Los Angeles Police Department's budget.
"The $150 million cut to LAPD funding & reallocation of $250m to communities of color comes as a result of PROTEST and ORGANIZING. This step forward was won by the people," the LA branch of BLM wrote on Twitter.
Several marches are scheduled to take place in New York on Saturday, and a march is even planned in the city of Honolulu in Hawaii.
BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT SPREADS WORLDWIDE
Protests and demonstrations are also planned in a large number of cities across the globe, although some national governments have stepped in to try and prevent large gatherings of people amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
In the United Kingdom, rallies are expected in many of the country's major cities, with the largest demonstrations planned in the capital of London. On Saturday, protesters are expected to march on Parliament Square, with another event planned near the US Embassy on Sunday.
Dozens of people were arrested this past week after protests near Downing Street turned violent.
Protesters will also take to the streets of Leicester, in central England, which has a population of roughly 300,000 people.
"We saw that protests were taking place in other cities and we thought that Leicester is such a multicultural city and we should be standing up as well," an organizer of the rally told the Leicester Mercury newspaper.
In Germany, a silent march is expected to take place in Berlin, according to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. Demonstrations have already taken place against the death of George Floyd in many German cities.
The mayor of the Belgian capital of Brussels Philippe Close has approved a "static" protest in the city that will take place on Sunday, according to the Brussels Times newspaper. The demonstration must remain in front of the city's Palace of Justice in order not to violate the country's COVID-19 social distancing measures, the newspaper stated.
"We are aware that the mayor chose a stance of tolerance, even if [Prime Minister Sophie] Wilmes had strongly advised against the protest," the newspaper quoted Dido Lakama, a BLM representative in Belgium, as saying.
Over recent days, protests against the death of George Floyd have taken place in many European capitals. In Athens, clashes broke out between police and protesters in front of the US Embassy after demonstrators began throwing stones and Molotov cocktails.
However, a planned Saturday demonstration in the Czech capital of Prague was canceled by organizers, despite more than 4,000 people indicating on Facebook that they were attending the event.
"The DEMONSTRATION scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, Saturday, June 6th in Prague is CANCELED. Please DO NOT congregate at the original meeting point as there will be NO organizational support for a large protest and it is critical everyone stays SAFE," the organizers wrote on Twitter.
Protests are also planned for numerous Canadian cities, including Toronto. However, the local BLM branch stated that it was playing no role in the organization of the demonstrations.
"Black Lives Matter - Toronto (BLMTO) has NO involvement in the organizing of any of this weekend's upcoming actions and marches. We believe in Black people mourning, grieving, and protesting however works for them & hope everyone look out & care for each other," the group wrote on Twitter on Friday.
In Vancouver, Jacob Callender-Prasad, an organizer of demonstrations in the Canadian city, announced that a march was not planned on Saturday, given that a protest was taking place the day before.
"There is no Saturday event, there is no Sunday event, we do not need three back-to-back protests, especially during COVID-19," the organizer said.
Elsewhere, demonstrations against police violence are expected in many of Brazil's major cities, according to domestic media reports.
Police have already used tear gas and rubber bullets on anti-racism protesters in recent days, with many calling for an end to police brutality after a 14-year-old teenager was killed by police in Rio de Janeiro on May 18.
LOCAL AUTHORITIES SHUT DOWN PROTESTS
Government and law enforcement officials in several countries have called for the upcoming protests and rallies to be banned, citing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier on Friday, the New South Wales Supreme Court ruled that a planned protest in Sydney against police brutality in the US and the mistreatment of indigenous Australians was illegal, given that organizers were expecting roughly 5,000 people to attend the event, the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported.
Officials in Melbourne have also urged protesters not to attend planned demonstrations.
"Don't go - It will be illegal because of the Chief Health Officer's Directions," Victoria Deputy Police Commissioner Shane Patton said, as quoted by the country's 7News broadcaster.
The state's police also issued a statement saying that it would be willing to fine protesters who breach the country's social distancing measures.
"Claims in the media this week that Victoria Police will not be issuing infringement notices to people who breach Chief Health Officer directions at tomorrow's planned protest in the CBD [Central business District] are wrong. In the exercise of police discretion, those who intentionally break the law will be held to account, and we have again contacted the organisers of the protest this morning to ensure this point is understood," law enforcement officials said in a statement.
Protests are also planned in the Australian cities of Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane on Saturday, according to domestic media reports.
Hundreds of people on Friday gathered in the country's capital, Canberra, in a demonstration against the deaths of indigenous Australians in police custody, according to The Canberra Times.
Law enforcement officials in the French capital of Paris, also on Friday, decided to ban a planned protest this coming weekend, citing the country's COVID-19 social distancing regulations.
"In accordance with the decree of May 31, 2020, on the health emergency [regarding the COVID-19 outbreak], the prefect of police decided to ban two rallies [over George Floyd's death] organized on Saturday, June 6," the Paris Police Prefecture said in a statement.
Violence has already broken out in the French capital after demonstrations that took place on Tuesday, which saw thousands gather to commemorate Adama Traore, a black French citizen who died in police custody in 2016.
Leading UK officials, including Health Secretary Matt Hancock, have also urged citizens not to take part in the planned protests.
"For the safety of your loved ones, please do not attend large gatherings, including demonstrations of more than six people," Hancock said at the UK government's daily coronavirus disease press briefing on Friday evening.
With no policy changes so far enacted in the United States and the four law enforcement officers involved in Floyd's death yet to stand trial, the protests against racial inequality and police violence look set to continue.
The charges against Derek Chauvin, the officer who knelt on Floyd's neck for several minutes during the arrest, were elevated to second-degree murder on Wednesday, and the three other officers involved in the incident were arrested and charged with aiding and abetting murder.
However, Floyd's death is just the latest in a series of tragic incidents involving African American citizens, who are disproportionately more likely to be killed at the hands of law enforcement officers.
As a result, protests in numerous cities in the United States have been dedicated to local citizens who were killed by police officers. In Louisville, Kentucky, protesters have taken to the streets to demonstrate against the death of former emergency medical technician Breonna Taylor, who was killed by local police during a raid back in March.
According to the Mapping Police Violence organization, which tracks deaths at the hands of US law enforcement officers, 1,099 people died during arrests or while in police custody in 2019.
The organization says that African American individuals are three times more likely to be killed by law-enforcement officers than their Caucasian counterparts.
